Quantum of Solace
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Movie Reviews of Quantum of Solace
Movie Review: DAMAGED GOODS
Summary: 5 Stars
Some reviewers and fans of the Bond films have complained that this film is a lesser effort in the series and pales in comparison to "Casino Royale". They have missed something important in their assessment of the film. When Dominic Green says to Bond that he and Camille Montez have something in common, that they are both "Damaged goods" he has clearly put before the audience the crux of the film that is "Quantum of Solace".
The film picks up only minutes after the end of "Casino Royale" and we are presented with a very damaged and changed James Bond. As revealed in the first film by Vesper Lynd's assessment of him upon their first meeting on the train, James Bond is a man who came up from humble beginnings and was given a privileged education but never allowed to forget his low origins. This has made him a very guarded loner with a chip on his shoulder, a perfect candidate for recruitment by MI6. In his words to her later on in the film, Vesper has "stripped me of my armor." But by the end of that film he is a man scarred by the death of his love, the armor is back on never to be penetrated again. He is now becoming the Bond of legend and a man bent on revenge.
So in "Quantum" there is no reason for the old fashioned quips or much humor in this man. Yet if you pay attention the character of James Bond as played by the incomparable Daniel Craig he lets us see that there are cracks in the armor. Something of a human heart still exists in him. This is played out in the scene after the plane crash where Camille asks him about his past. Craig shows it in his eyes in the most marvelous example of his layered and subtle acting style. Craig builds and molds a deeper, darker more complex Bond than we have ever seen before, a character more true to the books than in previous incarnations of Bond.
The action in the film is superlative and stylish. The opening car chase is indeed a nail biter only surpassed by the Sienna chase moments later. This too is then topped by the DC10 aerial battle towards the end of the film. The stunts are breathtaking and propel the film at top notch speed. But perhaps the most stunning and original sequence is the gun fight in the restaurant at the Opera house. This is played without sound effect as the score of "Tosca" commands the ear and heightens the emotion of the scene. This is inspired and brilliant film making taking in account all aspects of editing, cinematography, score, and acting. And since I mentioned music I cannot leave out the incredible delicious score by David Arnold who has infused his Bond scores with the much need taste of John Barry. He captures the glorious Barry sound and builds brilliantly upon it.
All the principle players give superlative performances. Judi Dench command attention as she always has as "M". Giancarlo Giannini redeems himself and is truly touching as Mathis. Mathieu Amalic is appropriately slithery and devious as the villain Green. As Agent Fields, Miss Gemma Arterton brings a light and fun light to the film. Finally in the role of Camille Olga Kurylenko holds her own opposite Daniel Craig. This is no mean feat and she is wonderful, athletic and touching in the film.
In the end Bond does find a quantum of solace and ends the film in a telling way. A small gesture that lets us know he is now moving on but not without a tinge of sadness. This beautiful sad ending is a refreshing and moving way to end a Bond film.
"Quantum of Solace" is a fast paced film that demands attention to the small details and respect for superlative performances by all involved from the director Marc Forster to the entire cast and crew.
Movie Review: Not much of a story, but great action.
Summary: 5 Stars
I just wanted to watch an action movie. I didn't want anything serious. No puzzles to solve, no angst-ridden protagonists attempting to find reason in the Universe.
"Quantum of Solace" filled the bill perectly.
It is all action. Non-stop action.
Whatever attempt there is to tell a story never intrudes on the action.
James Bond, played to perfection by Daniel Craig, is strong, always coiled, headstrong and has few words. He is far too busy avenging the death of his girlfriend Vesper in "Casino Royale" and tracking down the nefarious Corporation. Along the way he has to deal with Dominic Greene (played boringly by Mathieu Amalric). Poor M, played superbly well by Judi Dench, is Bond's mom-surrogate, clucking about his not getting enough sleep, while chastising him for killing another person. The persistent "Bolivian Secret Service Agent" Camille, hoping to avenge the brutal murders of her family, is played by Olga Kurylenko. She doesn't bring much to the show, not even as eye-candy.
The story, slight as it is, has the "corporation" seeking control of vital resources (no spoiler here!) in South America. Bond, in the course of seeking his own revenge, stumbles across this nefarious plot.
But the real reason to watch this movie is the action.
Beginning with totally reasonless, unbelievable but absolutely spectacular car chase with guns blazing, things quickly devolve to a surprise encounter which results in - you guessed it - another chase: this one across rooftops. Oh - and more bodies pile up too. Bond tracks a lead, which results in yet another masterfully choreographed bit of mayhem which kills only one person. Taking no time off, Bond hops into a car with - now this happens every day - Camille, the Bolivian Secret Service Agent who just happens to be on her way to a meeting with the bad guy, Dominic Greene.
More chases ensue: first a truly great one involving boats and then a surprisingly lackluster one involving a DC-3.
By golly, we're half-way into the movie and the storyline is still essentially invisible! No need to miss it, though. The action is great.
Next we're in a fancy Austrian opera house - where the shooting starts in another incredible pursuit sequence.
The special effects in this movie are fantastic, with one problem: everything is just too perfect. Every split-second is perfectly choreographed. I was reminded of the Indiana Jones show at DisneyWorld.
The concluding sequence is excellent. Guns, fighting, fire, explosions. Utterly unbelievable, but great fun to watch.
Yes, I'll be watching the one again. It is perfect empty headed cinematic action. No plot to interfere with the mayhem. Daniel Craig is the best James Bond since Sean Connery, although a completely different character. But the actors in this movie are secondary to the action. Good stuff.
Jerry
Movie Review: A Daniel Craig Film par excellence
Summary: 5 Stars
Quantum of Solace
Though many die-hard bond fans rate this film as secondary, I would not even dream of doing so. This bond film is shot crisp and delivers the punch. The audio particularly in this DVD is superb. The video is in widescreen format. Craig is definitely in a class of his own. He really looks battered and bruised. The story is a direct continuation of "Casino Royale". Judi Dench is quite impressive as M. The heart and soul of the film is Giancarlo Giannini's Rene Mathis, the kind of man Bond might be capable of becoming, and one he learns something about himself from. One of their scenes is easily one of the very finest moments in the entire history of the series. The film is also surprisingly vicious - for perhaps the first time in a Bond film, innocent people on the street, are deliberately killed. It may not be a great Bond movie, but it most definitely is a Bond movie. Olga Kurylenko manages to shake off the ineptness of her former films, to be a more than adequate, but not an especially memorable Bond girl. Instead of being just a pretty face, Kurylenko, comes over as a truly original variation on the theme - mysterious, driven, highly capable yet vulnerable too. In Quantum of Solace, Bond is trying to convince M that he is not seeking revenge - he is seeking his quantum of solace, his peace of mind. He needs to know who he can trust, who his friends are. Quantum so Solace, isn't one of the great Bond films, and Casino Royale set the bar far too high for it to compete. But it's certainly not a disappointment if you view it, aware of the fact, and more gratifyingly, the similarities to "License to Kill" are merely superficial. The running time is never a problem if one understands that, like "From Russia with Love"; this movie is beautifully edited, throwing out all the overused 'Bondisms' to get down to business. The story sees Bond pursuing the organization he holds responsible for the death of his love Vesper (Eva Green) in Casino Royale. It turns out that this organization, Quantum, still unknown to MI6 is highly powerful and internationally connected and Bond stumbles on its plot to control Bolivia's water supply. It has one of the most relentless and gripping pre-title sequences in Bond history. The film isn't as humorless as some have complained: there's a lot of dry wit where appropriate and a delightfully playful game of cat-and-mouse with Bond and M in a hotel, but none of the outright slapstick comedy that dragged the series down during the 'Roger Moore-days'. Craig still owns the role impressively and Jeffrey Wright starts to come in to his own as Felix Loiter, this time round. All said and done Quantum of Solace is a very enjoyable film. It might not have the suave assuredness of the Connery films, but what it has is Daniel Craig who, and this is coming from a lifelong Connery fan, is hands-down the best Bond of the series next to Sean Connery.
Movie Review: Who IS James Bond?
Summary: 5 Stars
What a moral morass is "Quantum of Solace." But what movie-making! Daniel Craig is a James Bond hitherto unknown, with Director Marc Forster taking him to places never before explored.
Quantum: the smallest amount of a physical quantity that can exist independently. If Bond (with Craig wearing his clothes and his mentality) receives just a quantum of solace (that smallest amount) by movie's end, then how much revenge filled his brain, his heart, his very essence? This is a Bond unstoppable, unimaginable, brutal--the epitome of a cold-hearted killer who seemingly just stepped out of an opera house peopled with evening clothes or the streets ferociously gang-dominated, tux on, weapon in hand, seeking that quantum of solace. Beware!
This is a Bond that even "M" cannot control. She tries. Lord help her, she tries. Bond's job is on the line, her job is on the line. Never before has "M" been anything than totally self-assured, but this is an "M" who finds herself behind the matresses, a woman reduced to just a woman who removes her makeup at night like any other woman who works a 9-5 job. Only "M" is supposed to be a force of power, control, behind-the-scenes domination. Who took her whip? Bond, of course. His mission is not impossible nor is his identity a mystery. All he seeks is a quantum of solace.
So a British man of mystery to the unknowing eye is really a secret agent with a license to kill. And kill Bond does--without hesitation, without remorse, without doubt. He spares only two moments to matters other than his revenge-driven quest: he gingerly embraces his old friend Mathis, and he has the obligatory sex scene. The embrace is necessary, even the scant sex scene is incongruous in context and should have lay on the cutting room floor, and initially erased right out of this script.
What the reviewer on the product page calls the "Bond girl" is an insult to the character of Camille (Olga Kurylenko). This is not the same-ol', same-ol' sexy girl who makes Bond's acquaintance in bed. This is an equal, also seeking a quantum of solace. Let the viewer take note: Everything is new about this Bond film.
Even the villain is less than a pure force as in the past. Superficially benevolent, he is buying up dry lands (with water on them) to make a killing (take that literally and metaphorically). Only in the occasional moment does this villain show his hidden evil. Why the lessening of caricature so notable in previous Bond films? To contrast Bond's unrelenting force of revenge? To show that all characters are capable of their opposite? Or perhaps to show the moral morass that our universe has become?
The outcome of Bond's quest is, of course, expected. He seizes his quantum of solace, but he is forever changed. Daniel Craig takes the viewer with him and shows what he (as actor and agent) is really capable of. What will the next film show about Bond's character, about Craig's incomparably nuanced acting?
Movie Review: The spectacular reinvention of James Bond continues
Summary: 5 Stars
Watching the Bond series reinvent itself with Daniel Craig as the titular British secret service agent is one of the great cinematic joys of the last decade. James Bond has given me more guilty pleasures than I can think of since I watched my first Bond movie, "The Spy Who Loved Me," at the tender age of eight. But I had to admit that the series had gotten flabby, bogged down in its own legends and traditions. Not even the welcome addition of Pierce Brosnan - my then-second-favorite Bond after a young Sean Connery - could break the cycle.
And then Daniel Craig took over as Bond with "Casino Royale," and happy days are here again.
For us, that is, rather than Bond. Craig's Bond suffers and is somewhat joyless. This works - the guy's a freaking assassin. Craig radiates danger like no Bond before him - he's now my favorite guy at the helm because he's so darn believable. I'm not sure how much mercury the filmmakers inject in Craig's eyes for these movies, but no Bond before has had as steely a glare as this man.
In "Quantum of Solace," Bond glares. A lot. The movie opens minutes after "Casino Royale" closes - Bond is at war with the sinister criminal conspiracy - now known as Quantum - that took down his beloved Vesper at the end of the last movie. The British secret service knows nothing about these characters, and Bond goes after them in a semi-official capacity. Quantum is a scary organization, willing to kill at the rumor of disloyalty and with henchmen placed in the highest, most secret halls of power. Bond tracks these guys from Italy to Haiti to Bolivia as he tries to exact revenge while answering the most important question - did Vesper truly love him, or was she just using him? Along the way Bond is aided by Bolivian secret service agent Camille (Olga Kurylenko), one of the best Bond Girls in years.
I enjoy the Bond stories that have less to do with global domination ("Moonraker" comes to mind) - those plots are too outlandish, and how often does one guy get to save the world? Just how many madmen are out there who want to take over the world? Here, we watch a super-agent begin his war against a criminal conspiracy, and we relish the fight we see as much as the fight to come, as Quantum is alive and kicking at the end of this movie.
My only quibble with this movie is its use of the currently-hip hyper-cutting technique during action scenes. During the opening car chase, I almost lost my lunch, the cuts were so dizzying. This is a tremendous action movie, but the filmmakers should have more discipline and allow a shot to play for more than half a second before cutting to the next shot.
Here's looking forward to the next Bond movie with back-to-basics Craig - the best Bond we've ever seen.